Farewell to Harriet

Mia Kay

3 years ago

by Mia Kay

To everything there is a season …

When I began my journey as a writer, I never considered a pen name. I wanted to see my name on my books. Then I wrote for a while, thought some more, and changed my mind. I write a lot for my day job – stuff that has nothing to do with romance or fiction – dull stuff. It seemed like a good idea to have a pen name.

Choosing one took a while. I tried every combination of family names, grandmothers’ names, great-grandmothers’ names, place names … It was that old joke “all the good ones are taken.” Finally, I combined my two favorite literary characters, Harry Dresden and Margaret Hale, and Harriet Hale was born.

I love Harriet. She’s given me more freedom in my writing and helped me discover long-hidden parts of my character and style. Harriet has made me brave.

So the middle part of my writing journey belongs to her. But the next steps won’t.

Marketing books requires a name on the cover that makes you think romance, and poor Harriet doesn’t do that. Apparently, she inspires thoughts of mysteries, cats, coffee, and bookstores. Those things aren’t bad, but I don’t write them (yet). So she’s retiring to make room for another name to be on the cover of my books.